How are you?

Heh.

That’s a tricky question. If I say I’m doing good, that’s a lie and if I say I’m doing bad it opens a venue for your pity which none of us need. Maybe some of us thrive off it but none of us require it. So, we sit back, sip our coffee, tea for the pretentious ones in the back, and say “I’m doing fine.” And everyone subconsciously understands that you’re just as miserable as them. Fine is not what we think it means. It’s not on the same spectrum as good and neither is it neutral. Fine is a word used by catcallers to throw at women of minority as they walk down the street. Fine is the poor people’s finesse. It’s a skill, a delicacy, a privilege to be. We now use it to veil our insecurities which already are an open secret.

On the other hand, if you say you’re doing good you’re either a masochist, a psychopath, or a really bad drug dealer. It’s a lie. This is life. No one is doing good. It’s a lie used by the elite to feel better about being miserable with money, the one thing they thought would alleviate them from their misery. The only ones feeling the feeling of bliss and “goodness” are the ones with faith and they’re about ready to shove it down the throats of everyone else. They’re not genuinely doing good, they’re just like us, weak and pathetic and ready to infect anyone stupid enough to ask them how they’re doing with their readymade prefabricated bullshit.

The people who ask that question, aren’t any better. They’re all secretly hoping you say you’re fine or doing worse than they are. Because that would make them feel better about their misery.

Why hide our misery when everyone knows we’re miserable regardless? You’re a liar, and so is society. You’re a liar if you believe you’re genuinely not lying. And that is the universal truth of the cosmos. Life is misery and misery is company. And humans love company. All our social interactions are based around the same question in different forms. “How are you?”, “How was your day?”, “What’s going on?”, “What’s up?”

So, which one are you? A liar or a complainer? Your answer defines everything about you and if you choose to stay out of it by questioning the question itself, you’re deflecting and that’s far worse.

Or choose to ignore everything I’ve said but you really won’t be able to. Every time you think about it, even if it is just to ridicule me, deep down, you know you’re afraid of the truth.